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I would consider the mobile/manufactured communities because you can get in at a reasonable cost in a development with activities and facilities, which appeals to me. If I were thinking about just a lot to live on that wasn't part of a community, the mobile idea has less appeal. You can find some older block cottages and duplexes for pretty cheap in a lot of areas (so cheap that you could buy both sides of a small duplex for about the same money as a MH). The RV idea only appeals to me if I go with the snowbird option and maybe get one of the 6 month hookup, 6 month storage plans.
I do have "plenty" of money saved for my retirement home. I'm just into both vintage and small spaces; also frugal as a lifelong practice (which is why I now have money). So really any of the options are open to me. I'm not a fan of being at the mercy of an HOA, though.
I am not a big fan of the HOA either, but I know I likely won't be social enough unless I am in a community. I browse newsletters and have found a few that look like decent candidates for me. Some of the RV parks almost look better, probably because I like to fish so much and some of them are fish camps.
There are a lot of nice trailer parks in FL. We live in our motorhome in FL 4+ months in the winter. My problem with FL, other than Dec-Mar is it get VERY hot and humid, so you're living in a small trailer and have to stay indoors away from the heat of the summer. AFA the frozen tundra in the north, I prefer it in the spring, summer and fall. Also have noticed there is a lot of crime in FL, listening to the news for the time we spend there. Friends lived in FL for years, then one of them passed and the other, in her 80's, had to move back up north by family.
Another issue with living in a trailer park is where we stay in the Keys, several closed down and sold to developers. Since you don't own the land, you have no alternative and other than having your trailer moved to another park, you're out of luck.
I'm a big fan of mobile homes, I think they get a bad rap and I'd rather have one than share walls in a condo. I guess I could see selling a single family home and using the proceeds to pay for the monthly fees of lot rental and HOA. But I am trying to avoid any monthly obligations at all. But it's weird, my friend recently sold his and there was no closing, no inspection etc. Just a check and a trip to the MVA, no different than purchasing a used Subaru.
My in-laws had a decent 55+ condo in clearwater (not a trailer park). It was great for 10 years, then they couldn't enforce the 55+ and the rif-raff moved in....an I mean rif-raff of the worse kind...think opiates!
I would consider a trailer park or condo but am so scared off by their experience.....
I do have "plenty" of money saved for my retirement home. I'm just into both vintage and small spaces; also frugal as a lifelong practice (which is why I now have money). So really any of the options are open to me. I'm not a fan of being at the mercy of an HOA, though.
I'm with you, and the only way I'd consider moving into a mobile home park is signing a contract to freeze the lot rent payments for 20 years, which no mobile home park owner would agree to. With my low SS income I need more control, more predictability. Worrying every year, some new mobile park owner might raise the lot rent doesn't appeal to me.
As far as 55+ communities for socialization, well, as the population ages in this country, you can all but stay put where you are! I'm currently in a townhouse complex, and most of my neighbors are 55+ and this isn't a 55+ community.
I know where all the senior centers are in town, and with a little effort, I can always drive or take a bus to one, one being just 6-7 blocks away.
And with my low SS income I really can't afford to live in any HOA community with any HOA fees. Where I'm headed to in Tucson I have my eyes on several properties with no HOA fees. No common grounds, no pool which I wouldn't be using anyway! So why subsidize someone else's usage of the pool!!!
I realize that given a large enough hurricane, it probably doesn't matter whether one lives in SW FL or SE FL - everyone's gonna get hit. But is it true that, generally speaking, the Gulf coast is less prone to severe storms than the Atlantic coast?
I realize that given a large enough hurricane, it probably doesn't matter whether one lives in SW FL or SE FL - everyone's gonna get hit. But is it true that, generally speaking, the Gulf coast is less prone to severe storms than the Atlantic coast?
Oddly enough, the NE coast (JAX area) is historically the safest.
The space coast appeals to me. It is just where odds start creeping back up for hurricanes and it is at the top of the range for Banana Palms, which means pretty much no winter. That is why Barefoot Bay (relevant to this discussion) is on my radar.
Last edited by ReachTheBeach; 04-01-2016 at 05:47 AM..
My in-laws had a decent 55+ condo in clearwater (not a trailer park). It was great for 10 years, then they couldn't enforce the 55+ and the rif-raff moved in....an I mean rif-raff of the worse kind...think opiates!
I would consider a trailer park or condo but am so scared off by their experience.....
That's the thing; you really have no control over your own life in any HOA. The rules can change at any time and "the worst" can happen, trapping you there. Why I prefer just a little piece of land and an RV!
As for a social life, unless you need it to be on-site because you're not mobile or can't drive/have no public transportation, there are now MEET-UPS in every city of any size to suit almost every interest.
That's the thing; you really have no control over your own life in any HOA. The rules can change at any time and "the worst" can happen, trapping you there. Why I prefer just a little piece of land and an RV!
As for a social life, unless you need it to be on-site because you're not mobile or can't drive/have no public transportation, there are now MEET-UPS in every city of any size to suit almost every interest.
It's a different strokes thing; if you do some research there are some HOAs that have been pretty steady over the years and the chance of an issue is small. It exists, sure. The kind of social interaction I am speaking of is a mix of informal and planned. Meetups tend to be fairly rigidly planned. Maybe on Tuesday I get up and it looks nice and I walk over to the community pier and find a few neighbors fishing. They aren't biting and it's getting hot so I go to the pool and some friends wave me over to a table to shoot the breeze. That sort of socialization appeals to me. I understand it doesn't to everyone and that's fine.
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So About Those Hurricanes
